Celebrations

There have been a lot of celebrations in Valley Center these past three weeks.  Valley Center Western Days happen around here every year at the end of May.  It’s a weekend long event that includes among other things: a parade, several rodeos, a pancake breakfast and a carnival.  My boys were both in the parade this year. Jakey rode in the award winning Ridgeview Preschool float showcasing the story of the Valley Center bear.  Benjamin walked with the local Cub Scout troupe.  B walked the route like a politician waving to people and shaking hands. Jakey rode on a flatbed trailer wearing a bear costume.  He and the other preschoolers looked like a mound of field mice sipping Capri Sun.

Cub Scouts in the Parade

Ridgeview Preschool Award winning parade float

 At the beginning of June, capping off a school year of practice , Benjamin and the entire second grade bilingual program along with second graders form the guitar club put on an amazing show.  The Guitar Club covered my favorite song, California, the from a local Escondido group, Talk Like June, that I’m just learning about.  Have a listen.  They are great.

backstage at the Guitar Club show, Maxine Theater.

Jakey had his last day of preschool and I was sad.  Of course I’m proud of his accomplishment and how he is growing.  I’m still sad to see the moments that mark his childhood go by.  Jakey told me not to cry because I might start coughing and this might lead to a “cough barf”.  The boy knows this from experience.

Benjamin is in the bilingual ( Spanish/English) program and will be moving from the Primary school to the Elementary school.  He was very sad to leave his teacher Mrs. Cottrell.  Benjamin and Mrs. Cottrell had a great personality fit.  I’m always glad when someone loves my quirky and sometimes prickly B.

Jakey at graduation.

We ended the school year with a lovely picnic at the community park overlooking the newly mown hay fields.  My boys played like wild things.  We were there with several families and all the children ran and jumped and yelled.  The parents talked and laughed and occasionally yelled back at the kids.  It was a marked difference from last year and so nice to add some happy onto a day of endings and tears.

Don’t say I didn’t warn ya, bout California

where the skies are bright and blue.

Where we can ride the waves

but at the end of the day we can rodeo too.

California, Talk Like Jane

Sleeping in San Diego or Unintentional Valley Girl

Mike and I sat in our living room and spent a few moments together this morning.  The sun just begins to peek into Woods Valley and strike along the rock face behind our home.

My morning coffee spot

Woods Valley is our small valley that is located in the larger town of Valley Center.  We have big windows in this house to take full advantage of that view.  I haven’t had the heart to cover them up yet.  I may never cover them up even though my mom says it’s creepy at night.  We have golfers pass behind the back fence during the day but very few are interested in leaving their game long enough to stare in our house.

A look at our beautiful rock faced valley wall and a few golfers thrown in.

At night it’s just owls, bats, and coyotes along with a cacophony of other creature noises.  I like the night noises.  You’d think an insomniac like myself would go crazy with it all but I sleep better here then any other place I’ve lived.  It’s not a bad place to wake up to either.

Night comes quickly in Valley Center

Peddler in Escondido

I’ve seen this traveling Avon showroom around Escondido several times now.  Escondido is the next town to the west and a little south of Valley Center.  The reconditioned camper reminds me of traveling peddlers from the old days.  I figure you’d only see this in a dry climate.

Have I mentioned  I love it here?

I’m a peddler

I’m a peddler

and don’t you want to buy

Many things I have in store

so many things you never saw

so many things you never saw before

so listen while I name them more.

– Jim Douglas 

What’s An Ag?

One of the first things I did when we moved to Valley Center was to coordinate and consolidate the school calendars with our family calendar.  After all, I’m a mom and a former teacher.  I’ve got a kid with Type 1 Diabetes in second grade and another child in preschool.  I understand the importance of being prepared for field trips, pizza days and book fairs.

I noticed that in April the Primary School and Elementary School students would be attending Ag Day.  At least I thought they’d be attending.  I wasn’t sure exactly what Ag Day was and therefore had not a clue about what one might do with or for an Ag.

It’s okay to laugh, you won’t be the first one.

I spoke with my husband and said, “you don’t suppose this is referring to agriculture?”. He told he was pretty sure Ag Day was really Agricultural Day and would in some way be relating to the fact that we now live in an agriculturally based community.

A beautiful Ag Day

I have a lot to learn.  When I mentioned Ag Day to my sister-in-law she said, “Is there also an Urban Day where you can get a coffee, do some shopping, go to a book store and then get Vietnamese for lunch?”.  I have a LOT to learn about being in the country.

I’ve now attended two Ag Days.  Valley Center School District has a school farm.  Parents and volunteers came together to showcase the agriculture, the ranching and the beauty of this paradise we live in.  It’s very dusty.  There are lots of kids and my fear of snakes was on overload.  I’m not going to lie, I was a fish out of water or perhaps a better metaphor would be a Mama far away from Starbucks.  It was lovely though, to see the children learning about palm trees,  planting and how to be better stewards of our environment.  It was also priceless to hear my son at the dairy exhibit exclaim slightly horrified, “Milk comes from THAT?!”.

Benjamin inspects a milk cow

Along with the whole country community thing comes a wonderful sense of belonging.  At this last Ag Day I saw quite a few parents that I am beginning to know.  They were all kind.  They laughed with me about my ignorance.  They checked in with B.  They offered us cool water.   This really is such a great place to raise our boys.

 

Coffee Culture

I grew up in the Northwest.  Coffee culture in the NW is big.  You know, we started Starbucks.  We also started grunge and a few other movements but that is a story for another time. I remember when Starbucks was just at Northwest thing.  We were all sure going National and then International would ruin it.  Then Coffee People sold out and went corporate.  It didn’t take long for me to find espresso in any airport I traveled through.  Secretly I enjoyed the accessibility of one of my favorite treats.

It’s cloudy and rainy in the Northwest for a good portion of fall, most of the winter and most of the spring.  All the mist and rain gives the land a lush green look.  Everything smells earthy of growing things and rainforests.  I love falling asleep to the sound of rain hitting the roofs and windows.  It’s dark though, something that Californians don’t really understand.  They tell me they’d love to live in the rain.  I don’t think they get the heaviness of low clouds and rain that can last literally for months.  It’s cozy, yes.  It’s also one of the places with the greatest numbers of suicide in the country.

Coffee houses were a way that we escaped some of the monotony of the weather.  They are community hubs filled with books, squishy chairs, sometimes live music and always always the rich think smell of espresso.  My local Starbucks was a place where I had business meetings, met other moms, took my kids and sometimes escaped my kids.  I knew the people behind the counter.  It was a kind of home extension.

When we moved I didn’t need coffee as a stimulant to ward off the doom and gloom of the weather.  I did miss the local coziness, that sense of place that comes with being a regular.  I’ve been trying some local coffee spots around town.  I thought you’d enjoy seeing the place I’ve been going to lately, “Momma’s”.  Seating is outside year round.